In a weekly nationwide conference call with dealers, Vice Chairman Jim Press and sales chief Steve Landry thanked the dealers for ordering vehicles at a time when many are carrying large inventories of cars and trucks and sales are slow, this dealer said.

Hitting the target was critical for Chrysler because the orders will bring in revenue and allow the company to keep its plants open, continue building more cars and fund other parts of its operations, according to a Chrysler manager familiar with the matter.

A Chrysler spokeswoman declined to comment on the call, but people with knowledge of the order count said the company was about 10,000 orders short as of Tuesday and had to re-approach dealers who had already fully participated in the effort.

Chrysler nearly ran out of money at the end of the year, but was saved when the federal government provided $4 billion in emergency loans. In January, the company launched an effort to boost orders, and pushed dealers to take on more inventory. Messrs Press and Landry toured the country to plead with dealers, explaining the company needed to hit its target to ensure its survival.

The deadline for February orders was extended twice to help reach the goal, according to people familiar with the matter.

“I think the dealers are very supportive,” a dealer who was on the call but did not want to be identified said Friday. “I want to survive just live they do.” – Alex P. Kellogg

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